Incineration of liquid sludge or the like



Patented Apr. 27, 1943 UNITED l BATES N -FFECE Robert W. Rowen, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Nichols Engineering & Research Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 24, 1941, Serial No. 384,969

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improved furnace constructions particularly adapted among other uses for drying and incinerating liquid or semiliquid sewage sludge or the like waste materials, including ground garbage or other combustible wastes.

Formerly it has been the practice to partially n Y' dewater liquid and semi-liquid sludges and wastes before drying or incinerating the same, by ltration on vacuum lters or by the use of centrifuges. This has necessitated the installation of expensive equipment, and the high cost of operation of these dewatering devices has been in some cases a decided disadvantage. Also generally large quantities of expensive chemicals have been required to condition sludges prior to filtration, and this further required technical slnll by plant operators in adding these chemicals to the sludge in the correct proportions.

In order to dry or incinerate liquid. and semiliquid sludges by the application of heat, it is of importance that the gases and vapors leave the drying or incinerating apparatus atV relatively low temperatures in order that the process may be economical, yet obnoxious odors must not be generated during the process. Formerly it has generally been considered necessary to raise the temperature of all gases from the drying and incinerating zones to a high degree in order to destroy obnoxious odors thereof. It has also usually been considered economically necessary to install heat exchanging equipment for partial recovery of the heat of the very hot waste gases leaving the incinerator, but this has incurred a great expense for heat exchangers, fans and ducts, as well as high maintenance costs.

The present invention involves a novel, inexpensive multiple superposed hearth furnace construction embodying improved means for so introducing and distributing the liquid sludge and controlling its flow, travel and heating in the furnace, that the above indicated problems are overcome.

Constructions embodying this invention may utilize certain features of the invention disclosed in the copending application of Mark B. Owen,

The invention consists in such novel features and combinations of parts as may be shown and described in connection with the apparatus herein disclosed.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional View of one form of furnace embodying the invention; and

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate various alternative forms of rabbling teeth which may be used in the furnace of Fig. 1. Y

Referring to Fig. 1 in further detail, the superpcsed multiple hearth furnace I0 as here shown may include within its upper portion a plurality of stationary warming or drying hearths as at I I and I2 alternating with a plurality of rotatable warming or drying hearths as at I 3, I4 and I5. These rotatable hearths may as shown be carried by a central rotatable shaft I6. This shaft may also be utilized for carrying a plurality of rabble arms as at I7 having rabbling teeth as at I8 for cooperating with each of the stationary hearths. In the particular construction shown, the peripheral portions at least of the rotatable hearths I3, I4, I 5 may be further supported as by brackets I9 mounted upon the rabble arms.

The lower portion of the furnace may include Y a plurality of stationary incinerating hearths as at 2li,` 2|, 22, 23. These hearths Amay be-constructed of refractory material in a manner well known with multiple hearth furnaces and may be accompanied by rabble arms as at 24 mounted on the shaft I5 cooperating with the hearths in a well-known manner. y

The furnace may be heated by inserting fuel or fluid fuel burners through openings as at 25fat one or more of the lower hearth spaces. Alternate hearths respectively of the furnace maybe constructed or arranged to provide central and peripheral discharge ports or spaces, and the rabble teeth may be directed at proper angles at the various hearths so that the material under treatment is rabbled or advanced inwardly and outwardly respectively over alternate hearths, to fall through the ports from each hearth to the next, in its progress down through the furnace.V

internal cooling fluid conduits supplied for example with air as from a fan connected at the lower portion of the shaft I6.

The liquid or semi-liquid material to be treated may be introduced as through a pipe 29 extending through the roof structure of the furnace and discharging for vexample onto the `upper rotatable hearth 13. A reservoir or vcavity may be provided as at 30 at the mid portion of this hearth to contain a considerable quantity of the material. This reservoir may be formed `for vexample by an annular upstanding sheet metal wall 3| concentric with the shaft and having openings as at 32 at spaced points around "its base for discharging and v distributing the 'material more or less gradually in` radial directions over the hearth I3. The reservoir 39 will tend rial, such assheet iron `or otherg-ood conductive material, so that the `heat of the `hot vgases will be readily transferred both to -the bottom and top vsurfaces 'of -the layers -of material -on -these hearths. Each of the Vstationartr sheet metal hearths may I:be Vcarried upon a plurality -of radially Pextending brackets as at 33, whereas as above indicated, the :rotatable sheet metal :hearths maybe supported `both bythe shaft I6 and by -the rabble Yarms.

.In the vconstruction shown, .four of -the rabble .arms maybe providedfabove each-of the Ahearths I-I vand I2, fand these `four arms will -ordinarily provide -sumcient vsupporting :means for the rotatable hearths `such eas I3, I4. each'of the hearths-further down -in-the furnace, it will erdinarilyfbe unnecessary to provide more .than two rabble arms iover 'each hearth, because 4less `frequent agitation -w-ill be required there. Hence -for yhearth -I 5,`-for example, the two -rabble farms I1 may vbe supplemented by supporting :brackets as Vat L3li for supporting this `'rotatable hearth. i

The material on the hearth I3 fbeing ordinar- :il-y 'in a freely flowing condition, Vwill vflow over vthis hearth and off its periphery without need for any .rabbling means. However, it will be desirable to provide, as shown, rabbling -means cooper-ating with all of -the -remaining .hearths. For cooperating with each "of the rotatable hearths, a plurality of radially extending rows -:of stationary rabble vteeth as at '35 maybe slidably mounted for rexampleonsmall IIE-'beams as lat 36, (oron .the II-'beams which Y:form parts lof brackets V33) l'secured -to the lunder side of stationary hearths II -and 'I.2. :As shown, similar vtooth supporting means may also be provided above hearth I3 .fin case the material treated is 1suchas to require .rabbling Yat this `hear-th.

Stationary hearths vI.I and l.I2 -in addition to .their central discharge ports .as shown, may be provided `at Vvarious points kwith .supplemental discharge ports controlled fby slidable `gates as .at .31, lmanually Voperable by -handle .means 38 However, at

.extending .to the outside of the furnace `walls.

Such gate arrangements are shown and described in further detail in the above mentioned Owen application. In operating the furnace, if the temperatures at the middle of the furnace, or say at hearths I4, I2 or I5, should tend to become too high, thereby tending to scorch the surface portions of the sludge while the interior portions are still quite :wet (with consequent danger of production 'of fodors), then to reduce such temperatures, one or both of the adjustable gates 31 may be opened, or opened more widely, and thereby cooler sludge is introduced more directly onto the hearths below these gates, with the result that the region of highest temperatures-in lthe furnace will move downwardly. VOn the zother .'hand, if in the mid portions of the furnace itis found that the sludge is too moist k'for readyfcom-bustion when it reaches the incinerating hearths, or too moist for thorough combustion before leaving the furnace, then the .adjustablergates may -be moved to .more 'nearly 4,closed positions whereby :more of the nsludge will have .to pass over more extended fdrying vhearth areas lbefore .reaching the incinerating hearths. Consequently -the sludge upon lreaching the incinerating hearths will be drier -and have Va higher .temperature andthe region of Vhighest .temperatures will ktend to rise in the furnace.

.In'these ways .and :in Aconjunction with the control of .the .fuel burners, `the temperature conditionsat the various `hearths lmay .be-quiteieasily controlled .to .the `extent necessary, depending upon .the varying fuel content of the vmaterial being 'treated .or the possibly variable rates -at which .itis introduced. The important advantages .accruing from fcareful control .of the temperatures at the various hearths will .be apparent from explanations givenV below .as to how the furnace may .be operated .econoniicallyand without danger .of .producing `obnoxious odors.

.The following table gives illustrative examples of suitable moisture content-s of thematerial as it leaves each hearth, zand temperatures obtainable at .successive hearths (starting from the top of the furnace):

Percent Sludge Gas HearthY H2O in temp., temp., sludgedeg. F. deg. F.

140 300 89.5 l50 y350 '88.5 155 400 86.0 50() 80.0 160 60() 70.0 70o 60.0 750 0. 0 1, 000 1,-200 0.0 l, 200 1,400

In multiple hearth .furnace constructions it Yhas heretofore been the practice to mount the rable teeth on the rabble arms in positions such that the loweredges of the teeth will be spaced with substantial clearance from the surfaces of .the hearths. Such spacing of the hearths and rabble -teeth according to common practice, is shown lon the drawings at hearths 2| and 23. rSuch clearance permits a substantial bed of ash -or other non-combustible material to accumulate lon the vhearths, protecting the hearths against wear and avoiding any .danger 4that the teeth, even upon .expansion .or contraction of the fur- .nace parts, will rengage the .hearth 'surfaces and have found it to be sometimes undesirable' to permit any such accumulations of the material on the upper hearths where the warming or drying actions take place. That is, if any such a'ccumulations rest more or less permanently on the drying hearths without being agitated and rabbled, there is danger that heat from the hot gases will scorch the surface portions of such layers, either on the upper surfaces of the accumulated layers or on the under side where the material contacts with the hot sheet metal, and with the consequent production of obnoxious odors. There is particular danger that this will occur if the furnace is operated intermittently or when the incinerator is taken out of service and then again warmed up preparatory to restarting operations. Where this diculty is encountered, it may be overcome by providing rabble teeth so mounted or constructed that their lower edges will yieldably engage the surfaces of the hearths or act thereon as squeegees so as to clean all the material from the path of each tooth at frequent intervals, and advance such material into the paths of the next succeeding teeth. Thus as soon as a thin layer of the sludge is warmed or heated on the surface of the sheet metal hearths, it may be agitated and replaced by cooler material with` freshly exposed moist surfaces, without danger that any portion of the material will remain with its surfaces in one place on a hearth long enough to permit scorching at any of the drying hearths. Also in this way the layers of sludge on each of the drying hearths in effect have both their upper and lower surfaces periodically agitated and changed by the rabbleteeth for fresh exposure of the particles of material to the high ternperature gases owing both over the hearths and in contact with the under sides of the hearts.

Various forms of rabble teeth suitable for the above indicated purposes of yieldingly engaging the hearth surfaces are shown in Figs. 2 4. The construction of Fig. 2 may comprise a portion as at 40 shaped to slidably engage a rabble arm or support in the usual way. The depending active portion of this tooth as at 4I may be formed for example of exible thin sheet metal or other material bent to a shape as shown, and suitably affixed as by riveting to the portion 40. In the form shown in Fig. 3, the attaching portion 42 may be similar to the portion 40 above referred to, but formed for example integral with a depending tooth portion 43 at the proper angle, and adapted to have bolted or riveted thereon, a replaceable flexible portion 44. This latter portion if desired may be formed of flexible fabricated material such for example as various of the temperature-resistant materials used for brake lining purposes, suitable woven wire or wire brush material.

ln Fig. 4 another tooth construction 45 adapted for similar purposes is shown. In this case the entire tooth may be of a rigid construction. but so mounted that the weight of the tooth will cause the lower edge to yieldabiy engage the hearth. For this type of tooth, the tooth-attaching portions of the rabble arms may be circular as indicated at 45, and the tooth may be formed with an apertured lug as at '4l for loosely ernbracing the arm portion 4S. When the rabbie arm is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the teeth of this type will trail the arm With their lower edges in scraping contact with the hearth surface. But if the tooth should meet with any obstacle on the hearth, it

will be free to pivot about the arm portion 46 and thus rise over the obstacle without danger of breakage.

Portions of the hearths which may not be approached by the usual arrangements of the rabble teeth, for example the peripheral portions of hearths I I and I2, may be periodically scraped clean as by attaching suitable iiexible members as at 48 to the ends of rabble arms Il as shown.

The manner in which this type of furnace may be operated according to the invention, economically without production of obnoxious gases will now be explained. The liquid sludge or waste material as first introduced may have a moisture content of from vr5-95%, and a temperature for example of 60 F. The gases arising from the incinerator portions of the furnace having been evolved or heated at the lower hearths to a high temperature, will be free of odors and when they arrive at the top of the furnace, they will contact with the sludge being admitted and their first effect at the top hearth I3 will be that of gradually warming the sludge up to the dew point temperature of the gases. Until the sludge reaches the dew point temperature, there is actually, a condensation of moisture from the hot gases on. the cool sludge and consequently noxious gases (volatiles) cannot be evolved from the sludge at this region, and in fact not even steam or vapors can be evolved from the siudge'at this region. The sludge is, however, with the close spacing of the numerous sheet metal drying hearths as shown, absorbing a great amount of heat from the gases and is therefore cooling the gases so .that their exit temperature will be low and heat losses to the stack will be minimized. Further on, when the sludge reaches the dew point temperature of the gases, moisture starts to evaporate from the sludge. The evaporation of moisture not only absorbs heat from the gases, but heat for evaporation is also absorbed from the sludge mass itself (a parallel illustration is the cooling eiect of evaporation of water from wet hands) Thus so long as the sludge stiil contains enough moisture, it is impossible .for the sludge to become overheated to the pointwhere obnoxious volatiles will be evolved therefrom 'or so that it Will Scorch or smolder with the production of obnoxious odors. Typical temperature measurementsof this sludge itself on the drying hearths, show temperatures for example in the neighborhood of F. even though the gases above such sludge may be at 1000 F. or higher. Various tests show that so long as the sludge temperature is kept below about F. at least, while drying, no appreciable amount of volatiles can be driven off, no matter how dry the sludge. It should be noted further that all of the material on the warming and drying hearths is either constantly flowing, or all parts of it are frequently being agitated by the rabble teeth, thus exposing fresh surfaces and mixing Vthe sludge, and hence keeping the temperature 'of the various particles substantially uniform at each zone. Therefore case hardening of the sludge surfaces and consequent scorchingthereof does not take place.

`When the sludge does become dry enough Yso that there is no longer enough moisture present to protect against overheating and scorching,

then the sludge may rather quickly become warm Y enough so that hydrocarbons giving rise to odors are driven out. But this does not occur until the sludge has been dried to a moisture content varying from 30 to 50%, and by this time, in the y relatively low gas velocities.

furnace shown, the sludge has been rabbled idcwn .onto the refractory hearths. At this :region ,the `gases volatilized from the sludge are ignited by the hot gases ascending from the lowermost lincinerating hearth. And since lthese gases are `thus 'burned at high temperatures, they are effectively deodorized. In 'this zone of the incinerator, which is `usually at vthe nextto the lowermost hearth1 these volatilized gases vburn 'with long yellow .hot flames and ignition and deodorization is positive. On the lowermost hearth the solids in the siudge itself, principally xed carbon, are burned before discharge from the incinerator.

I have thus found it possible to dry and incinerate liquid and semi-liquid sludges containing from Z5-95% moisture for example, without production of obnoxious odors and with waste gases leaving the incinerator at relatively low temperatures of from G-500 F., whereas heretofore it had been generally assumed that the waste gases would have to be heated to 1000 F. or higher to avoid odors.

In the construction shown it will be noted that numerous sheet metal drying hearths are spaced vertically at distances approximately one-half or less, as compared with the spacing of the refractory incineration hearths. Such a spacing of the hearths has a number of important advantages rendering the furnace particularly applicable for treating liquid or semi-liquid material in the way above explained. At the incineration hearths, ample space is provided between hearths for considerable masses of the solid material, and to provide sufficient space for thorough combustion of the evolved gases at high temperatures `and On the other hand, close spacing of the drying hearths not only permits a much greater total hearth area within a given size of furnace, to economically provide large warming and drying areas, but also a close spacing at these hearths will cause the streams of hot gases to flow more rapidly thereover and thus carry away the moisture more rapidly. 'Ine closer spacing of the sheet metal drying hearths also insures more intimate contact of the streams of gases with both the under surfaces of these hearths and the material resting on the upper surfaces thereof, thus increasing the exposure of both the upper and under surfaces of the material to heat. Since combustion does not take place at the drying hearths, there is no need of providing any large spaces to insure thorough combustion of the gases at these areas, and since the material is in liquid or semi-liquid form on a number of the warming or drying hearths, it is consequently present only in thin layers requiring less space than the solid material `at the incinerating hearths. It will be apparent that the use of sheet metal for the drying hearths, rather than the refractory'brick necessary-for the burning hearths, makes possible closer Vspacing of the drying hearths in several ways. That is, the metal hearths may be thinner and need `not be arched as must refractory brick hearths. Also use of metal hearths facilitates direct Vattachment of rabbles to their lower sides, thus enabling the use of alternate rotatable hearths, and enabling the latter in turn to be supported by rotatable rabbles, all with a greatsaving of space vertically.

asraeai While :the invention Y'has been described in detail with respect to particular .preferred examples, it :will be understood `by those skilled in 'the art after understanding the invention, that various changes .and further modifications may lbemade without departing from the spirit and vscope of the invention, and it is 4intended therefore in the .appended `claims to cover all such .changes and modifications.

What is claimed as new and desired to be `secured by tLettersPatent is:

l. Apparatus Vfor drying and incinerating liquid 4or semi-liquid sludge material, comprising a plurality of superposedstationary drying hearths of metal, a Aplurality of lower superposed burning I-hearths vef refractory material, said hearths ibeing yarranged with generally similar spacings vertically `within:enclosing furnace walls, a rotatable vcentral sha'it carrying -rabbling means for agitating and ladvancing the sludge over said hearths and=from hearth to hearth down through the furnace, a plurality of superposed rotatable drying 'hearths of metal, mounted on said shaft in positions alternating with said stationary drying hearths and :supported by certain of said rabbling means, and stationary rabbling means secured tothe under sides of said `stationary dry- 'ing hearths for rabblmg and advancing the sludge von said rotatable hearths, all of said hearths being constructed and arranged to provide ports permitting air and evolved gases to pass alternately 'inwardly and outwardly of sucoeedinghearths and upwardly through the furnace countercurrent to the travel of the sludge.

2. Apparatus for drying liquid or semi-liquid sludge material, comprising a plurality of superj-metal, mounted upon said rabble arms atpositions alternating with said stationary hearths, and rabbling means comprising beams and teeth carriedby'the'beams, securedto the undersides of the stationary hearths for agitating and advancing the material outwardly over and then 'from each of said 'rotatable hearths onto the stationary hearths.

3. A furnace construction `comprising a plurality o'f generally circular superposed hearths of sheet metal, rabbling means for agitating and advancing material over said hearths, including a rotatable 'central shaft carrying rabble arms extending over said hearths, and a row of separable teeth carried by each of said arms, the lower edge portions of each of said teeth being constructed and arranged to yieldably engage an lannulararea of a hearth as squeegees for cleaning the path engaged and advancing the material from such path to the path of the next succeeding tooth of the row.

4. A furnace construction including a generally circular hearth, and a series of rabble teeth mounted over said hearth and movablearcuately in respect thereto, at least the lower edge portions of said teeth being formed of iiexible sheet material and normally pressing against said hearth.

ROBERT V. BOWEN. 

